Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Italian Memories and Cooking Abroad

For years I have been saying that for my next "milestone" birthday, I want to do a cooking school trip to either France or Italy with my friends for a week. Of course, I'm envisioning mornings spent chatting over piping hot coffee and pastries sitting in street-side cafes, then afternoons meandering the local market for ingredients, and finally, evenings standing in front of an old farm table preparing to cook, chopping vegetables, seasoning meats, and discussing the meal we will be enjoying together. 

Before the arrival of our Little Mister, Ken took me to Italy to celebrate becoming a family of three. It was amazing. One of the things we did was take a cooking class while we were in Florence, which was a surprise Ken arranged before we arrived. It confirmed my plan to do it again with friends one day. 

 Dusk in a small Florentine piazza. The streets, architecture, and city life were better than I even imagined. I found myself sort of getting lost and having a sense of belonging at the same time. The locals were welcoming and friendly, and didn't mind my feeble attempts to converse in Italian.
 A Florentine Market

 Waiting to speak with the butcher.
 Prepping and cooking together is one of my favorite things to do. Sharing a love for good food with the people who mean the most to me, there really is not much in this world better than that. 

Also, don't these aprons make us seem so official and so touristy at the same time?

 Fresh goat cheese raviolis in butter and cream. 
Tagliatelle with local beef in red sauce. This dish was my favorite, and I have attempted to recreate it at home a few times, especially on days when true comfort food is in order.

While I am not celebrating a milestone birthday this Summer, I will be next year. And, here's to hoping La Tartine Gourmande will be offering this Sicilian cooking course again. Her photography of food, scenery, local culture, and her daughter is an amazing blend of captivating, compelling, and calming. If you enjoy cooking and traveling, her blog is absolutely one to follow. But consider yourself warned, you'll read her blog and immediately need to eat and cook and book a plane ticket at the same time.

If any of you are already planning to attend this, or end up deciding to go, I would love love love to hear all about it!

Buon Appetito, 

-Domestic in the District

No comments:

Post a Comment